The Good, the Bad and the Ugly From Georgia's Victory Over Auburn

Georgia basketball defeated Auburn 91-86 Tuesday night to improve to 11-6 on the season.

Georgia basketball didn't just beat Auburn Tuesday night, they outplayed and outcoached the Tigers for 40 minutes.

Georgia led the entire game to beat Auburn 91-86. The victory keeps the Bulldogs' NCAA Tournament hopes alive. Georgia has now won four of its last six games and is 11-6 with eight games left in the season. Here's the good, the bad and the ugly from Georgia's victory:

The Good

Creating easy buckets

Georgia's play in the paint was miraculous Tuesday. The Bulldogs constantly shredded Auburn's defense to find shots near the rim. Fifty-two of Georgia's points came in the paint, and many of the other 39 were created by Bulldogs penetration. Those included free throws and wide-open three-pointers.

Sahvir Wheeler and KD Johnson attacked the basket all night. Their drives either led to layups, or passes to teammates. Georgia's dominant play in the paint also led to 11 second-chance points. Andrew Garcia grabbed four offensive boards, and Toumani Camara had three. 

Negating Sharife Cooper

Head coach Tom Crean had a game plan to negate star point guard Sharife Cooper and the Bulldogs executed it to perfection. Cooper still had solid stats: 19 points and nine assists is not a bad game by any evaluation. But it didn't feel like a near double-double performance for him.

Georgia used reserves Jaxon Etter and Mikal Starks to guard Cooper. They took turns frustrating the freshman, forcing him into bad situations. Cooper committed four turnovers and having to pass sooner than he wanted interrupted the flow of Auburn's offense.

The Bad

Fouling too much at the end

The final minute of the game was more stressful than it needed to be. Georgia sank its free throws and eluded defenders to burn seconds off the clock. It was almost a perfect final minute of basketball by the Bulldogs.

But they fouled Auburn too often, including twice on rebounds. The Tigers went to the line four times in the final 44 seconds and they made all eight of their free throws. Each of those fouls was unnecessary and put Georgia's lead at risk.

The Ugly

There's nothing for the ugly category from the game. Georgia beat a good Auburn team soundly. The score wasn't a blowout, but the result never felt in doubt because of how easy many of Georgia's shots were. 

This was the game Georgia fans have been waiting for from Crean's Bulldogs. A decisive yet hard-fought victory. An offensive performance featuring consistent scoring from all areas of the court. Georgia made 7 of 16 shots from outside the arc while also scoring 52 points in the paint.